Thursday, March 31, 2016

N.C. governor calls backlash over state's new LGBT law hypocritical - Based on this Politico article, NC Gov. Pat McCrory continues lie about the recently passed anti-gay law in his state during an appearance on Fox News by implying that it is merely a "public safety" bill for females in locker rooms and bathrooms when in actuality it also strips NC cities and towns from protecting the entire lgbt community from discrimination. And the worse part is from what I read, Fox News personality Brian Kilmeade soft pedaled the interview. I hate to make this mention because it sounds so severe but I think we all know what side Fox News would've stood on if it existed during slavery and the Civil Rights Movement.

Wednesday, March 30, 2016

THIS RANT from anti-lgbt American Family Association's Bryan Fischer goes beyond almost everything he has said against the lgbt community in the past. It deserves a place by itself in the pantheon of homophobia. Fischer perfectly captures the religious entitlement, the ignorance, and the self-righteous mean-spirited cluelessness which has gone into the creation of the recent spate of anti-lgbt laws masquerading as "public safety" bathroom bills and "religious liberty" bills.

Is the #GayMediaSoWhite? Gay Men of Color Exposed Racism in Gay Media on Twitter - THIS CONVERSATION needs to happen. The way the gay media is run these days, it enhances the false belief that Lgbts of color have contributed nothing to the struggle for lgbt equality. But how can there be knowledge of your work when your people don't acknowledge your existence, to say nothing about your intelligence. And I say that as one who has been a victim to this mindset.

In truth, the law also prevents NC cities and towns from passing ordinances which would protect the lgbt community from discrimination in such things as housing and employment. But the Family Research Council will not stop with its deliberately inaccurate messaging. And to make matters worse (or better if you enjoy reading FRC's meltdown because it is losing the messaging war over anti-lgbt laws), the organization is now lashing out at Georgia, Louisiana, San Francisco, and New York.

The group even attacks it own ally, Gov. Mike Pence of Indiana:

North Carolina's policy may be settled -- but the dust certainly
hasn't. After having their way with political squishes like Georgia's
Governor Nathan Deal (R), liberals are beside themselves with Governor
Pat McCrory's decision to listen to the voters of his state and repeal
Charlotte's hugely unpopular bathroom bill.
Big Business is hyperventilating, out-of-state leaders are boycotting,
and the ACLU is suing. But does North Carolina regret its decision? Not
one bit. Unlike Georgia, McCrory knows the best way to silence a bully
is ignore it.

While Georgia tried to appease the unappeasable, North Carolina set
aside the hysteria and did what was in the best interest of the people
and children of the state. Seven or eight years ago, most Americans
would have been appalled at the idea of letting grown men into girls'
restrooms. Now, after two terms of this radical president, liberals are
banning travel to a state because they won't allow it. Honestly, it's
almost baffling that this is where we are as a nation. The governor of New York and mayor of San Francisco
are so adamant about allowing men to shower with our daughters that
they're forbidding "non-essential travel" to the state of North Carolina
to promote it!

Monday, March 28, 2016

There is a seriously disturbing trend regarding the recent spate of anti-lgbt laws. It would be a serious error on the part of our community to not raise hell about this trend.

The so-called "Christian" groups and spokespeople who support these anti-lgbt "religious liberty" laws have been deliberately lying and/or deliberating obfuscating the negative impact these laws will have on the rights of lgbt Americans.

Last week, I pointed out how the Family Research Council tried to falsely paint North Carolina's recently passed anti-gay law as one of public safety for women and girls while omitting how it also prevents counties and cities in the state from protecting lgbts from any form of discrimination.

Today, Fox News personality Todd Starnes rang the alarm about GA Governor Nathan Deal's veto of a legislative passed anti-gay law masquerading as a "religious liberty" bill. Starnes, who already has a shady history of painting false stories of anti-Christian persecution, put on his best hand wringing performance in defending the vetoed bill:

Georgia’s Republican governor stunned the state’s religious community
Monday by vetoing legislation that would have protected preachers who
refuse to perform LGBT marriages.

“It’s open season on people of faith in our state,”
said State Sen. Josh McKoon, the author of the 2014 Religious Freedom
Restoration Act. “It’s a slap in the face to conservatives, to
evangelicals and to the broader faith community,” he told me.

. . .Simply put – the bill would have protected pastors from having to
perform same-sex marriages. Faith-based organizations, like Christian
schools, would also have been extended protection from renting its
facilities to any organization that was contrary to its beliefs.

However, gay rights groups alleged the legislation would have essentially legalized discrimination.

“Discrimination and intolerance have no place in the 21st
century, and any town, city or state that enshrines it into law will
not be judged kindly by history or by the American public,” Human Rights
Campaign President Chad Griffin said in a prepared statement.

Starnes' column is can be considered the top example in Obfuscation 101. His column omits the following details, via The Huffington Post:

The bill would have prevented the government from taking action against
organizations or people with “a sincerely held religious belief
regarding lawful marriage between... a man and a woman.” It would have
opened the door to all kinds of discrimination
against same-sex couples. A state-contracted counselor, for example,
could refuse to provide services to people in a same-sex marriage.
Taxpayer-funded adoption and foster care agencies could refuse to place
children in their homes. Government employees, a la Kim Davis, could refuse to file official forms for same-sex couples.

It's not accidental that Starnes chose to omit a crucial part about GA's anti-gay bill just as it was not accidental that the Family Research Council is distorting NC's new anti-lgbt law. What's truly sad about all of this are not just the distortions and lies or that FRC and Starnes are blatantly pushing these distortions.

The truly sad thing is that the lgbt community has probably gotten so desensitized to these day-to-day falsehoods about every level of our lives that a lot of us wave them off instead educating the world about them; the very thing we SHOULD be doing.

More importantly, perhaps, is the list of what the Heritage Foundation and other politicians who are using sexual assault survivors are NOT doing:

They are not leading the effort to support the growth and funding of programs working on the prevention of sexual assault, such as the Violence Against Women Act. The Heritage Foundation in fact opposed the 2013 reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act).

They are not acknowledging that both men and women can be survivors, and that both men and women can be perpetrators. Instead, they are picking out just the one type of sexual assault that meets their needs and enforcing silence about all the others. How would they protect boys who shower or toilet with men? Is anyone talking about the needs of women and men whose female relative or babysitter molested them?

They are not visibly demanding follow-up of the hundreds of thousands of untested rape kits that are gathering dust in evidence rooms nationwide.

They are not conducting public education campaigns to tell people the facts of who abusers are and how they behave, so that people can start identifying and addressing actual dangerous situations.

They are not proposing legislation to change statutes of limitations so that adults can prosecute the people who molested them as children, or backing other reforms that might change the fact that 98 percent of rapists never serve a day in jail.

They are not funding or advertising quality trauma-treatment programs that can help survivors re-integrate into the world without carrying a debilitating fear of half of its inhabitants.

Over the weekend, a lot of my friends and Facebook pals noted that the anti-gay law the NC legislature passed looked very familiar. And I think, to a point, they are right.

In 1992 via the same fear tactics that they exploited to pass state laws against marriage equality in the future (i.e. lgbts are boogeymen who want to corrupt society and recruit children) religious right groups convinced Colorado to pass a law similar to that in NC. At that time, it was an amendment to the state's constitution. Amendment 2 prevented any city, town, or county to pass any laws which would protect lgbts from discrimination. The case went all the way to the Supreme Court and in 1996, Amendment 2 was struck down by a vote of 6-3.

In declaring Amendment 2 unconstitutional, the Court made clear that
antigay sentiment does not justify governmental discrimination and
shattered the “special rights” rhetoric of those who oppose equal
treatment for lesbian, gay and bisexual people.

. . . This landmark victory was the single most positive Supreme Court ruling
in the history of the gay rights movement when it was decided. The
Court’s ruling made clear that lesbians, gay men and bisexuals have the
same right to seek government protection against discrimination in the
United States as any other group of people. The decision also marked a
new level of legal respect for LGBT people and rejected the notion that
it is legitimate for the government to discriminate against gay people
based on moral objections to homosexuality.

Here is something else interesting about the case - The opinion of the court striking down Amendment 2 was written by Justice Kennedy while the dissent was written by . .. the now late Justice Scalia.

So how does North Carolina's HB2 differ from Colorado's Amendment 2 or does it even differ at all? That's for law experts to say and I personally have never studied law. Any legal experts reading this blog is welcomed to weigh in.

This is not to say that we should take for granted the possibility that NC's law will be struck down. Nothing is for sure ever in this world. The lgbt community should keep up the fight against NC's awful anti-gay law. It just worth noting that we've had this particular fight before. And it's also worth noting the sad obsession some folks have with depriving lgbts our equality in that they dig a rotten, unsuccessful idea from the past and go with it without even considering that folks would call them out on it.

Friday, March 25, 2016

Early reports are that due to the ugliness of it's new anti-gay law and the speed in which the legislature passed it, North Carolina is seriously screwed right now. It's being vilified in the press and companies are slowly but surely raising the alarm. And don't count on groups like the Family Research Council being adept at defending the state. FRC has been obscuring the many nasty repercussions of the law, to no avail. NO ONE is fooled.

The Family Research Council omits truth about North Carolina's anti-gay law- And you just know I have to get a good jab in. My piece from last night looks at how the Family Research Council gloats about the law while omitting what it actually does. A little advice, FRC. NO ONE is fooled by the "bathroom predators" and "public safety" junk anymore. The fact that you continue lie about that point only hurts you.

Thursday, March 24, 2016

I knew that the Family Research Council would gloat about North Carolina's new law, HB2, but even I am a bit put off by the organization's celebratory email. I am going to post FRC's entire statement coming from its president, Tony Perkins:

Yesterday, leaders in North Carolina achieved more in a day than many
state leaders have been able to accomplish in years. In a single-day
special session, legislators passed
and the governor signed into law protections for the privacy of
children and women using school and public bathrooms, showers, and
locker rooms in the Tar Heel state. Governor Pat McCrory (R), Lt. Gov.
Dan Forest (R), and House Speaker Tim Moore (R) are to be commended for a
day's work well done!

A month ago, the Charlotte City Council revived and passed a previously failed effort
to establish special rights for people who identify as transgender. The
law added "sexual orientation" and "gender identity" (SOGI) to the list
of protected classes like race, national origin, and sex to the city's
nondiscrimination code. The change was billed as "tolerant" and
"inclusive," but as we've seen time and again it effectively opened
every public bathroom, every gym shower, and every school locker room in
the city to anyone, regardless of their biological sex. Despite
thousands of calls, emails, and testimony from Charlotte residents --
including the Benham brothers
-- who have experienced first-hand the heightened hostility and
discrimination against Christians who hold to a biblical view of
marriage and sexuality, the Council voted to force all businesses and
places of public accommodation in city limits to recognize every
person's preferred "gender identity" or face heavy fines and penalties.

This is where the Left leads us when left unchecked by common sense: The privacy of women and children
must be sacrificed on the altar of political correctness. This reckless
abandon of common sense threatens the safety and freedoms of Americans
from Seattle to Houston.

Thankfully, state leaders stood up and common sense prevailed
yesterday in North Carolina, days before the Charlotte ordinance was set
to take effect. Even before the Council voted, Gov. McCrory and Lt.
Gov. Forest (who presides over the Senate) made it abundantly clear that
they would act to protect North Carolinians. The new law, Gov. McCrory warned,
would "create major public safety issues." "It is not only the citizens
of Charlotte that will be impacted by changing basic restroom and
locker room norms," he wrote, "but also citizens from across our state
and nation who visit and work in Charlotte."

Lt. Gov. Forest was even more direct:
"Girls' bathrooms are for girls, boys' bathrooms are for boys. The fact
we are even debating this is a sad commentary on where we are as a
society."

If you live in North Carolina, please take a moment to thank Gov. McCrory, Lt. Governor Forest, and Speaker Moore
for their courage in the face of fierce opposition on social media,
staged protests to disrupt debate, and Democratic drama as Democrats in
the Senate walked-out. Because these men refused to be bullied and
intimidated, North Carolina becomes the third state (after Tennessee and
Arkansas) to protect its citizens in bathrooms and locker rooms.

And no matter where you live, take a moment to tell your elected officials
that you support protecting the rights of the majority of Americans who
continue to believe in biblical sexuality and natural marriage.

Other than the deliberate appeal to fear mongering and lies about the transgender community, can you tell me what ELSE is wrong with the Family Research Council's statement. Isn't it missing one very HUGE detail about North Carolina's new law?

How about the simple fact that HB2 does more than supposedly "protect public safety." The law eliminates any and all non-discrimination ordinances in the state which would protect all members of the lgbt community.

The state has undone not just local ordinances protecting transgender people, but all LGBT nondiscrimination provisions across
the state. Literally overnight, people in Charlotte and across North
Carolina can now be fired from their jobs for being gay, turned away at
hotel chains for being gay, and even forced to show their genitals to a
police officer if the cop thinks they might be transgender.

House Bill 2 mandates that state law supersedes all local ordinances concerning wages, employment, and public accommodations.

Holden also pointed out that until yesterday, nine other jurisdictions in NC had ordinances similar to Charlotte's

Lastly, this Human Rights Campaign graphic says it all:

We shouldn't fool ourselves as to why the Family Research Council conveniently omitted the full repercussions of HB2.

FRC knows what this awful law does in its entirety. The organization knows fully well that the law now leaves lgbts in North Carolina defenseless against discrimination. And I'm willing to wager that members of the organization are practically giddy over this fact.

But Perkins and the rest of FRC also know that there is no way they can defend what this law does. Attempting to address the elimination of rights would totally destroy the narrative of "public safety." So rather than try to put lipstick on this pig, so to speak, FRC has hidden the pig deep in the barn while it distracts everyone with the shiny distraction of "men lurking in ladies restrooms."

As discussion about HB2 continue, FRC's shady behavior should serve as a warning about the truth regarding these "bathroom bills." Let's not forget to remind everyone about this fact every chance we get.

After North Carolina yesterday, it's safe to say that finally the lgbt community is realizing that in spite of winning marriage, we are still involved in a brutal war of rhetoric and position against groups and folks determined to take away our rights.

Welcome to the party, y'all.

That being said, my guess is that after North Carolina, anti-gay groups will be coordinating to repeat what happened in there throughout the United States in as many areas as they can. The following is simply my opinion as to what the lgbt community and our allies MUST do next to combat and defeat this new attack on us.

1. The anchor of anti-gay assault this time is the transgender community. Exploiting fears and ignorance, the religious right and their allies in state legislatures are using "bathroom bills" to strip the entire lgbt community of our rights. My advice is to don't run from the lie. Run to it. Full speed. We have enough information and resources to bogart and refute the talking point. Resources like the following from Media Matters (which by the way does NOT get used enough by our community):

This graphic needs to be sent out to as many places as possible. Its information needs to be repeated in as many places as possible. Don't be afraid to overwhelm. The goal is to get the truth about these so-called "bathroom bills" out there and drilled into as many heads as possible. And on that same note, I understand the trepidation and fear, but as many transgender brothers and sisters as can be need to be public and telling their story. If folks have transgender family members, they need to tell their stories also. It's all about getting the truth out there.

2. I have no doubt that we will win this particular fight. But what about next time because my guess is that there will be another fight after this one. Religious right groups have an nauseatingly uncanny knack of pinpointing a fear about the lgbt community and using it to exploit the uninformed. This mess about "bathroom bills" is just the latest in a long line of horror stories and lies they have told about the lgbt community. It's like I said in another post:

In the 70s, they said the children must be protected from "recruitment" since gays supposedly can't reproduce.

In the 80s, they exploited the ignorance regarding the AIDS crisis to make lgbts seem like deserving pariahs.

In the 90s. it was all about keeping us from receiving unfair "special rights."

And in the early 2000's, it was all about "protecting marriage."

So what can we do about it? We connect all of these past lies. We consistently remind people of other claims the religious right have made about lgbts (such as hate crimes legislation will lead pastors to be arrested in their pulpits) which turned out to be not true. In doing this, we can to strip the "bathroom bill" of its unearned power as a legitimate problem, thereby exposing it as yet another lie designed to demonize the lgbt community.

As much as I hate to say this, the lgbt community have the bad habit of underestimating those who want to deny us our equality. We are too quick to celebrate when we get one victory and too slow to realize that the one victory in question is only a battle in a larger war.

It's not that we aren't intelligent or talented enough to defeat religious right lies. It's that we seem to always be deliberately unprepared. We generally win, but only after lots of heart ache, tears, anger, circular firing squads, and all of the trappings of a people trying to catch up in a battle.

Don’t forget, Trans People Are Loved - Yes they are. It's never affirming to be a scapegoat for bigotry. We need to remember our transgender brothers and sisters right now and make sure they know this.

Wednesday, March 23, 2016

As expected, the dunderheads in the North Carolina legislature brought the hammer of homophobia down on the head of the state's lgbt community:

North Carolina’s House of Representatives voted Wednesday to block
cities and counties from passing protections against LGBT discrimination
in a wide-ranging bill that could have enormous implications for the
state.

HB 2, which passed 83-25 in a special session,
would set a statewide anti-discrimination policy, banning employers and
businesses from discriminating against employees or customers based on
their race, color, country of origin, religion, age or “biological sex.”
The bill offers no protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual and
transgender people, and prevents local governments from passing any
nondiscrimination policy that goes beyond the statewide standard.

The bill also pre-empts local employment ordinances governing wages,
benefits, employee protections and leave policies. It would prevent
schools from allowing transgender people to use the bathroom of the
gender with which they identify.

The state Senate is set to consider the bill later Wednesday.

“This bill essentially repeals 50 years of non-discrimination efforts
and gives lawmakers in Raleigh unprecedented control over our city and
local governments,” Senate Democratic Leader Dan Blue said in a
statement. “North Carolina Republicans want to pass what would
potentially be the single most discriminatory act in the country. This
is a direct affront to equality, civil rights, and local autonomy.”

Republican lawmakers called the state’s General Assembly into a
special session with the goal of blocking Charlotte’s
anti-discrimination measure from going into effect. That measure, which
passed last month in a 7-4 vote, bans businesses from discriminating against customers based on their sexual orientation or gender identity.

Critics of the Charlotte ordinance particularly took issue with a
provision that allows transgender people to use bathrooms designated for
their preferred gender. Gov. Pat McCrory (R) vowed to overturn it, claiming it creates “major public safety issues.”

Here are my two takeaways:

1. If you think this thing is a misguided attempt to protect females from predators sneaking into their bathrooms and locker rooms, raise your hands high . . . so I can smack you upside the head like Moe used to do in "Three Stooges" shorts. Protecting females is just the excuse. If it were simply about that, what's with the overreach? This bill is yet another attempt to keep lgbts under heel as second class citizens, just like other anti-gay bills. Folks who pus these things always claim that they are attempting to protect children, women, or others they see as vulnerable. The only folks who need protection are lgbts every time one of these bills come up. Count on the opposition to also make a false argument that the "rights" of Christians are under attack and the only way to prevent this is to hinder all lgbt non-discrimination laws.

2. Which brings up point two. These bills will continue to come up. The lgbt community attaining marriage equality never meant the fight for our equality was over. It only means that it's heating up. Angry at their losses, anti-gay groups and spokespeople are working hard - and getting paid lots of money - to dream up and put into play new ways to deny us equality or just basically ruin our specific day. North Carolina is yet ANOTHER wake up call that this so-called culture war isn't over. And we have to use new tactics. Don't get discouraged. Get engaged.. A two hour protest expressing anger won't fix this.
Lgbts must stop being sitting ducks. Get engaged in the political
process, voting, and running for office. Study the tactics of the
anti-gay groups in your state. Know them by heart. And don't be afraid to
pick public fights of rhetoric with them.

Editor's note - The bill just passed the Senate by a vote of 32-0. The Democrats walked out instead of voting on the bill. It now awaits Gov. Pat McCrory,'s signature, which he unfortunately gave this same night.Let the games begin.

The Family Research Council was in a braggart's mood yesterday as it launched another attack against the transgender community:

Liberals like to say they're pushing these gender-neutral bills for the kids, but new research suggests they're doing it despite
the kids. Every day, it seems like another city or school board is
pushing a policy that tells children to ignore the anatomy that
classrooms should be teaching! The waves of gender-neutral bathroom and
athletic proposals keep coming, no matter how devastating it can be for
students. Gender isn't a matter of self-determination, the American
College of Pediatricians (ACP) is arguing, and suggesting otherwise can
harm kids for life.

This isn't about helping children "find themselves" or accepting them
for who they are, it's about glamorizing a disorder with life-long
consequences. When legislatures or educators indulge and even encourage
this confusion, ACP warns, it's child abuse. In a strong response to the
transgender ideology marching across America, U.S. pediatricians are
urging a complete and total rejection of these so-called
"non-discrimination" bills. "Conditioning children into believing a
lifetime of chemical and surgical impersonation of the opposite sex is
normal and healthful is child abuse," they write in a statement released yesterday.
In an eight-point dismantling of the trans-movement, they remind
Americans that gender confusion is a "mental disorder" -- a fact, ACP
points out, that has never been disproven.

I will spare you the rest of FRC's taunt. However, it cannot be ignored that yet again FRC is distorting information. Don't be fooled by the official sounding name of the organization. (The American College of Pediatricians) which crafted the statement that FRC is pushing as legitimate.

To put it plainly, the American College of Pediatricians is a fraud, an organization which, while sounding credible, is actually a front for giving anti-lgbt propaganda a more respectable veneer. According to the Southern Poverty Law Center:

Like NARTH, ACPeds was born from an ideological split within a
profession. It was founded in 2002 as a protest against the much larger
American Academy of Pediatrics’ support for LGBT adoption rights — and
that opposition remains central to the group’s identity. ACPeds is believed to have no more than 200 members, a tiny fraction
of the nearly 60,000 professionals who belong to the American Academy of
Pediatrics. But thanks to its deceptive name — which makes it sound as if it is
the mainstream professional organization for pediatricians — ACPeds
often serves as a supposedly scientific source for groups pushing utter
falsehoods about LGBT people.

. . . Dr. Joseph Zanga, who heads ACPeds, described what he hoped his group
would become: “essentially a Judeo-Christian, traditional-values
organization ... open to membership for pediatric medical professionals
of all religions who hold our core beliefs ... that life begins at
conception and that the traditional family unit, headed by an
opposite-sex couple, poses far fewer risk factors.

The song, entitled “Gender Bender” is by MH Weibe, who describes
herself as a “concerned mom.” In January, Alberta schools adopted
legislation requiring bathroom facilities to accommodate transgender
people by allowing them to use the bathroom according to the gender they
identify as, Global News reports.

Weibe raps that she doesn’t think the issue should be legislated but
instead focus should be placed on preventing cuts in classrooms, and
also that she thinks being transgender is unnatural.

Yes, it is as bad as you think. And I'm not just talking about the ignorance and transphobia. No offense but her rap is so bad, the ghosts of Biggie and Tupac are looking for her ass:

If I were you, I would hurry up and take a gander at this thing because I have a feeling that it will be taken down. I'm talking youtube itself will take the form of a sentient being, destroy this monstrosity, and then join the ghosts of Biggie and Tupac in looking for this woman

Editor's note - All of my prayers and good thoughts go to the innocents in Brussels caught up in today's madness. I further wish that our media would use discernment and care in terms of who they seek comments from and that we all don't break out the pitchforks before we find out the truth of the matter.

I received an email request from FRC loaded with lurid accusations against the Obama Administration of supposedly discriminating against Christians who feel that homosexuality is a sin (because not all Christians feel this way, no matter what the religious right says) and thereby robbing them of their "religious liberty."

"I am a man of faith and believe deeply in religious freedom, but . . ."

These
words were recently spoken by President Barack Obama in an interview
with an LGBT (Lesbian-Gay-Bisexual-Transgender) magazine.

And when he said "but" he meant: You have religious freedom UNLESS you openly express your belief in biblical truth about marriage, family, and sexuality.

If you refuse to DENY your biblical beliefs—then you'll be PUNISHED.

Am I being too severe? Read what he said next: " . . . but at the end of the day, nobody is above the rule of law."

By "nobody," President Obama means you, your family, your church members, and other Christians.

Kim Davis

Then came the money paragraph, and by that I mean the center argument in the FRC letter almost guaranteed to make money jump out of the reader's pocket and into FRC's bank account on its own accord. Usually the money involves an anecdote. Instead of junk science or cherry-picked science designed to give a false impression of how "dangerous" homosexuality is, FRC has moved to giving "examples" of how certain Christians have been supposedly "persecuted" because of their faith. Usually these examples omit certain pertinent facts which refute the narrative FRC attempts to push.

But in today's letter, FRC really went all out by telling a jawdropping lie:

Ask Kim Davis.

She was the Christian county clerk who went to jail
for asserting her legal right not to issue a same-sex marriage license
with her name on it, because it so flagrantly violated her freedom of
religious conscience.

Instead of finding someone else to give the license, the government threw Kim in jail!

To answer both of your questions, the above paragraph is NOT a typo and you aren't in the Twilight Zone. FRC is falsely claiming that Kim Davis had a legal right to deny same-sex couples marriage licenses.

Of course those of us with good sense or even a quarter of sense God gave a goose know that FRC's claim is inaccurate and any claims that it's merely the opinion of the organization would be yet another lie.

At the time of her arrest in September of last year, Davis HAD NO legal rights to not issue marriage licenses.That is why she was thrown in jail. She refused to follow a judge's order to grant issue those marriage licenses:

Kim Davis, a clerk in Rowan County, was found in
contempt of court on Thursday morning by Judge David Bunning. Davis has
said granting marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples would
"violate God's definition of marriage" and infringe on her personal
beliefs as an Apostolic Christian. Bunning said Davis would be released only when she agreed to follow his order and issue marriage licenses.

But Bunning was unconvinced. "I myself have genuinely held religious beliefs," the judge later said, but "I took an oath."

In December, newly elected Kentucky Gov. Mat Bevin issued an executive order removing county clerks' names from marriage licenses, but that was a result of the controversy involving Davis and not because her rights were violated in any manner.

In telling this outlandish lie, the Family Research Council has proven once again that the rights of Christians who believe that homosexuality is a sin is not under attack, but the words "faith," "morality," and "religious liberty" are being held hostage by charlatans who don't care how transparent their lies are.

If the NC legislature is smart, they won't listen to the Benham brothers.

Benham Brothers Headline Protest Calling For Special Legislative Session To Kill Charlotte NDO - And the push to destroy lgbt anti-discrimination laws begin in North Carolina. The opposition doesn't know which lie to choose from - that the law will endanger women and girls in bathrooms and locker rooms or the law will discriminate against those who think that homosexuality is a sin (note, I will NOT say Christians because not all Christians believe that homosexuality is a sin. Not playing by THEIR language, don't you know.) So they will alternate between lies.

The American College of Pediatricians and the Laundering of Junk Science - And the junk science from the above link is partly coming from this group, which is why I am pulling this post from 2009. It is a prime example of why we must catalog and define the groups pretending to be legitimate as they astroturf homophobic lies into the scientific community. And also why we must have this information ready for anyone attempting to do research.

From people like Ryan Anderson of the Heritage Foundation, the only time we ever hear about same-sex parents and their children is when lies are spun about them. And then sometimes we don't hear about them at all. This is a cynical tactic designed to both demonize lgbts when it comes to children and render same-sex families invisible.

But they, as all people with dignity, refuse to be rendered negative or invisible. Particularly the children.

A groundbreaking new film is taking a compelling look at what it’s
like to grow up with same-sex parents by speaking with those who are
most intimately impacted by them: their kids. “Gayby Baby”
follows four Australian children — Gus, Ebony, Matt and Graham — who
just happen to have gay parents and explores the joys and unique
challenges they each face.

Friday, March 18, 2016

The Most Extreme Attempt Yet To Demonize Transgender People And Deny Them Rights - Not too long ago, the religious right used propaganda videos to attack gay men. It doesn't surprise me that they are resurrecting this tactic to attack our transgender brothers and sisters. Of course the video is designed to scare people with the lie of "predators disguised as women" invading ladies locker rooms and restrooms. Media Matters has debunked this lie repeatedly, so it is the place to go for folks to get the truth. The following graphic above comes from Media Matters.

Thursday, March 17, 2016

Come on Bryan, you know that in 2001, the researchers of the study you cited complained that folks like you were distorting their work. The Gay and Lesbian Medical Association also said that homophobia is a cause of those negatives you mention and not the gay orientation itself. Also, you played a trick regarding the condoms in porn directive. It was talking about all porn. Unlike you, it did not specifically mention gay porn while mentioning heterosexual porn as an afterthought.

The above is a short paragraph which was not derogatory or obscene in any way. And it is factual.

It's too bad that the American Family Association won't publish it as a comment to a ridiculous column written by Bryan Fischer. The column, Liberals Inconsistent About Fining Behavior, is yet another tirade by Fischer against the lgbt community. The main gist is this part:

The justification for banning cigarette
smoking in public places is that innocent bystanders will be forced to
breathe in secondhand smoke. But that risk does not exist with smokeless
tobacco.

So liberals are banning chewing tobacco
not because it’s bad for others but because it’s bad for you. City
councils all across the fruited plain are fining people for engaging in
legal behavior because that behavior, legal or not, is a risk to their own health.

But using their own logic, the logic of
moralistic liberals who fancy themselves the smartest people in the
room, we should start fining people for engaging in homosexual sex.

And as you can see by my above comment, Fischer lists several distortions to back up this ridiculous theory. In my blocked comments, I gave a brief correction of these distortions. However since AFA has chosen to block this correction, I will give more details regarding Fischer's distortions.

Lie 1 - According to the International Journal of Epidemiology,
active participation in the homosexual lifestyle can knock 8-20 years
off a man’s life expectancy, and reduce it to what it was in 1871.

Truth - Fischer uses an old religious right lie. He distorted a 1997 study on HIV. We know this because in 2001, the authors of the study complained about how their work was being distorted to claim that gays have a short life span.

Lie 2 - According to the Gay & Lesbian Medical Association, there are at least 10 specific elevated health risks
associated with sodomy that practitioners are urged to talk over with
their health care provider. The dangers include depression and anxiety,
suicidal ideation, substance abuse, alcoholism, eating disorders,
hepatitis, various cancers (including anal cancer and colon cancer), and
an alarming list of incurable sexually transmitted diseases.

Truth - Some of the topics listed in the GLMA link Fischer mentions aren't even health risks (such as Coming Out to Your Doctor and Fitness - Diet and Exercise) and in several places, GLMA does refer to homophobia and lack of a good support system for the health risks which may plague gays and lesbians (please note that the GLMA link talked about lesbian health, also. Fischer didn't mention that because he seemed to have been consumed with talking about "sodomy.") The important thing is the GLMA link is merely a guide to positive health for gays and lesbians and in no way attacks their orientation.

Lie 3 - A pro-homosexual activist organization in California, The AIDS
Healthcare Foundation, persuaded the people of Los Angeles County in
2011 to institute fines for every porn producer who allows performers to
engage in unprotected gay sex. (The ban extends to all porn shoots,
heteroseuxal as well as homosexual.) Why the ban on unprotected gay sex?
Because of the obvious risk to human health, particularly of
contracting HIV/AIDS.

This is not the first time Fischer and the AFA have been caught demonizing lgbts and I doubt that it will be the last.

Fischer's column and the blocking of my correction of his lies is something we should all remember because it is the center of the anti-lgbt propaganda hate groups like the American Family Association and folks like Fischer use. This propaganda aids the religious right
tremendously as they undermine lgbt equality by
passing awful statewide "religious liberty" laws or painting
transgender men and women as predators. They spend a considerable amount of time branding us as the other, exploiting people's fears and ignorance about what we allegedly do sexually to each other or want to allegedly do to children. Then they play the victim when we make moves to exercise our rights, such as the one to marry.

We are targeting them, they say. We are trying to shut them down.

Okay Bryan Fischer and the American Family Association, if lgbts are the bad guys, then why are you the ones telling lies?

In this day and age when good leaders are hard to find and those we have chosen as leaders (and pundits) are grabbing for the money instead of emphasizing simple honesty, let's recognize a man who should remind us all what a good public servant once was. Leader, speaker, organizer, chief coordinator of the 1963 March on Washington, posthumous Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient, Bayard Rustin.

Pastor
Eddie DelValle of With Love Ministries says the movement in part
relates to Kim Davis, the Kentucky county clerk who was ordered to jail
for refusing to issue same-gender marriage licenses.

"I think the agenda of the LGBT movement
was to silence the church, silence Christians and make us powerless in
the culture and society," he says. "But instead the states now have
given us full protection where we cannot be taken to court or civilly
sued if our conscience is violated religiously."

The law "protects" pastors from being forced to marry gay couples. But the law is useless and passing it was a waste of time. There are no laws, ordinances, provisos,
etc which demand that pastors have to marry all couples who come before
them. That sort of thing would be illegal due to the First Amendment of the
Constitution.

Also, I find it ridiculous that DelValle and One News Now attempts to make the connection to Kentucky clerk Kim Davis. She is an elected official and not a pastor, therefore it was her job to provide marriage licenses to all couples whether they be gay or heterosexual.

He also compared the law to passing a bill against aliens from outer space landing in Florida.

It just goes to show how people can be manipulated by fear. Lgbts do not want to silence Christians. In fact, some of us ARE Christian. We just want our right to marry, just like everyone else. And now that we have won that right, we are going take full advantage of it.

We could care less which pastors don't want to marry us. We are too busy having weddings with the ones who do.

Editor's note - I've got two announcements:1. Because of a personal emergency, this will be the only post on my blog until late this afternoon.2. Some folks have asked will I weigh in on the Democratic primary on this blog. Due to the extremely contentious nature of the primary - barring any unforseeable event which needs to be talked about - this blog is officially declared a NO "Hillary vs. Bernie" Zone. This blog is about the lgbt community, fighting the religious right, and securing our equality and dignity. There will be no distractions. Any comments steering anything to a Hillary vs. Bernie situation will also not be posted.

Taking a break from calling us hateful if we boycott things, the anti-gay hate group American Family Association has declared war on the ABC sitcom The Real O'Neals:

If you didn't know who Dan Savage is, it's probably a good thing. But
right now we need you to familiarize yourselves with one of the
cruelest, most vile political activists in America.

Why? Because ABC and Disney is airing a sitcom Dan Savage developed loosely based on his life.
A perusal of Dan Savage's work reveals a career built on
advocating violence — even murder — and spewing hatred against people of
faith.

Savage has spared no one with whom he disagrees from his vitriolic hate speech. We have examples, but be warned, they are extremely graphic and offensive.

. . . Despite his extremism, vulgarity, and unabashed encouragement
of dangerous sexual practices, ABC's newest sitcom with Savage as its
executive producer is now airing on Tuesday evenings at 8:30/7:30 p.m.
CT.

"The Real O'Neals" mocks Christianity and insults Catholicism.
AFA recognizes this show ridicules people of faith, and Christians
across America are offended by it.

It is almost impossible to describe the depth of depravity
found in the sitcom "The Real O'Neals." It is impossible to list them
all, so here are a few scene descriptions from the show:

Jesus appears where only the gay son can see and talk to Him, and He is annoyed by the mom's strict guidelines for her family.

The daughter steals money she is supposedly raising for charity.

The daughter "attempts to prove" that there is no God in a science fair project.

A statue of Mary is kept above the O'Neal's toilet to remind the boys to put the seat down.

The first jab at Jesus comes only 52 seconds into the first episode.

The mother encourages her 16-year-old gay son to "try s-x" with a girl. (A dash '-' is used to bypass internet filters.)

Vulgar language (ex. V-gina).

The mom makes pancakes shaped like the face of Jesus to guilt trip her anorexic son into eating.

AFA goes on to talk about contacting one of the companies which pays for advertising on this show to let them know that they supposedly support "bigotry and animosity" against Christians.

Personally, I'm jealous. I thought I was one of the cruelest, most vile political activists in America. Anyway, I find The Real O'Neals to be very comical and refreshing. But look at this short clip judge for yourself:

About Me

Alvin McEwen is 46-year-old African-American gay man who resides in Columbia, SC.
McEwen's blog, Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters, and writings have been mentioned by Americablog.com, Goodasyou.org, People for the American Way, PageOneQ.com, The Washington Post, Raw Story, The Advocate, Media Matters for America, Crooksandliars.com, Thinkprogress.org, Andrew Sullivan's Daily Dish, Melissa Harris-Perry, The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell, Newsweek, The Daily Beast, The Washington Blade, and Foxnews.com.
In addition, he is also a past contributor to Pam's House Blend,Justice For All, LGBTQ Nation, and Alternet.org. He is a present contributor to the Daily Kos and the Huffington Post,
He is the 2007 recipient of the Harriet Daniels Hancock Volunteer of the Year Award and the 2010 recipient of the Order of the Pink Palmetto from the SC Pride Movement as well as the 2009 recipient of the Audre Lorde/James Baldwin Civil Rights Activist Award from SC Black Pride. In addition, he is a three-time nominee of the Ed Madden Media Advocacy Award from SC Pride.